


And now you're nothing like you seemed

by RedemptionByFire (steelneena)



Category: Twin Peaks
Genre: Angst, Dale nearly escapes a panic attack in this, F/M, and Super, angsty, but it's a near miss, it's not a full blown one, really sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-26
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-12-20 00:11:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11909148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steelneena/pseuds/RedemptionByFire
Summary: We're watching all the street lights fadeAnd now you're just a stranger's dreamI took your picture from the frameAnd now you're nothing like you seemYour shadow fell like last night's rainFor the last time- Shadow, the ChromaticsOr, Audrey and Cooper meet again ten years after he escaped BOB in 1990. Things don't quite work out.





	And now you're nothing like you seemed

**Author's Note:**

> This is Audrey's pretty dress because I like finding pretty dresses for Audrey: https://www.simplydresses.com/shop/viewitem-PD1461537

He never expected to see her again. He’d never expected to see any of them. After leaving Twin Peaks Dale had been a wreck mentally and emotionally. He’d worked his way back to himself, mostly, but he’d stayed away from the Northwestern portion of the country, and with it all the people whom he had come to know and care about. It was better that way. Harry had reached out to him once, and he’d returned the message with a short but polite answer that must have been a bit more terse than he’s intended, because their correspondence had ended shortly thereafter.

Dale had been invited to the corporate dinner as a social nicety and he’d accepted purely because it was the cordial thing to do. But there she was, chatting effortlessly with the host, a glass of red wine balanced perfectly in her hand, yet held with the casual grace of someone thoroughly confident that it wouldn’t spill. Not much had changed about Audrey Horne in the decade since he’d seen her. Even ten years older she looked much the same as she had then, her dark curls arranged and pinned, black heels on her dainty feet and the curvature of her waist displayed in a deep blue gown that flattered her figure. Even her smile hadn’t altered. He recognized the one on her face in that moment as being the one she wore when she was enduring people she thought shallow or fickle. He’d seen it on her often enough around her father and other members of the community who had never quite managed to understand her.

With conscious effort, Dale turned away from her, debating about his next move. Should he leave? Should he stay? The sight of her and the association he automatically made between her and… _that place_ hadn’t been enough to send him into a panic attack like it may once have threatened to do, but if she saw him… If he had to speak to her…

Chancing a glance back, Dale saw that Audrey had turned to speak with someone else. Her dark blue dress was open in the back, revealing the pale, creamy skin of her shoulders and the trailing line of her spine was framed by the vee of two, thin straps which met at the point of her waist. As Audrey swayed where she stood, the satin skirt billowed gently around her. She was stunning as she’d ever been, and Dale couldn’t bring himself to look away again.

The man with whom she was speaking said something to her that made her turn and suddenly she was looking right at him, and he at her frozen utterly immobile under the weight of her gaze. There was no small amount of alarm in her eyes and she started towards him with little hesitation. He didn’t move.

“Special Agent Cooper?” She asked. She was taller than he remembered and he chalked it up to the heels she was certainly wearing.

“Miss. Horne,” He replied, his mouth dry.

“I’m –“ She paused, and apparently rethought her choice of words. “It’s nice to see you again,”

“Likewise,” He said, surprised that it wasn’t as big of a lie as he thought it might have been.

“I’m shocked,” She said plainly, and Dale knew that those were most likely the word’s she’d just moments ago decided against using.

“Me too,”

She blinked, her eyelashes fluttering with some emotion he couldn’t place.  “You look beautiful tonight,” He looked down and away, closing his eyes and swallowing hard. Of all the things he could have possibly said…

“You look very handsome tonight too, Agent Cooper,” Audrey took a sip from her glass. “When my friend over there told me I had an admirer I’d never have thought it would be you. I’m shocked, but I am happy to see you,”

He was starting to feel uncomfortable. Audrey was still watching him and heart was close to racing.

“Do you need to sit down, Agent Cooper?” She asked, suddenly aware of his discomfort. He only nodded in response and tried not to flinch when she touch his arm, looping hers around his in order to lead him to one of the tables in a corner that wasn’t so crowded.

Relieved, Dale sat, but still avoided her searching eyes.

“You’re not happy to see me,” It wasn’t a question and he didn’t try to deny it. “I know that…what happened in…what happened…” She sighed heavily and sat down in the chair beside him. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything,”

Dale focused on breathing, on ignoring the thoughts and memories that were trying to burrow their way into his brain. He sensed that Audrey was hesitant, sensed that she was vacillating on some sort of decision, but through the haze, he couldn’t determine what. Out of the corner of his eyes he caught sight of her thin fingers, nails painted a dark russet brown, gently lower the wine glass to the table.

“Will you let me take you outside?”

He nodded his ascent and prepared himself for her touch once more. It wasn’t as caustic as it had been the first time. She was just as gentle, as conscientious of his state as she had been before, if not more so. When he felt the first rush of air against his face, cooling him and allowing his heartrate to settle, if not to slow, Dale mustered enough concentration to speak.

“Thank you,” He glanced at her for a split second. She had a look of infinite sorrow on her face that was marred only by the faintest threads of understanding. Dale ran a hand over his face. “You caught me off guard too. I didn’t think it would be this bad,”

“Part of every misery is the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief,” Audrey recited quietly, looking at her hands.

“Who said that?” Dale asked, opting not to comment on her choice of words. The racing tempo of his heart was finally evening out and he could breathe easier.

“C.S. Lewis,”

“Ah,” He leaned over the stone railing of the stairs. “So I’m the shadow of misery?”

“We’re all shadows of the past, Agent Cooper. That’s what living begets,” A soft mist was falling around them, creating a bluish haze in the glow of the streetlights.

“I think I’ve had enough of that sort of living to last me a lifetime, Audrey,” She tensed when he spoke her name for the first time, but said nothing. “I’m not who I used to be,”

“You’re right. And neither am I,”

“Because that’s what life begets,”

“Right,”

Grasped with sudden urgency he turned to Audrey placing his hands at her upper arms, pulling her closer to him and looking her straight in the eyes, matching her gaze, which glowed with uncertainty. They looked at each other with the same entreating intensity for some moments when Dale finally felt the hot bite of tears sting at the corner of his eye. Audrey’s, too, were glistening with unshed tears.

“It’s a dream, Audrey. It’s all a dream,”

She took a sharp breath, held it.

“Let it go,”

She let the breath out and drew in another, just a quickly, shuddering in his hold. One moment more and he let her go and she veered away from him to the railing, grasping it for support as he turned and walked away from her for the last time, listening to the soft sounds of her soft sobs as they faded into the night. Dale walked as far as he was able, before he collapsed onto a bench and wept.

  


End file.
